Russian trolls 'spreading discord' over vaccine safety online
Bots and Russian trolls spread misinformation about vaccines on Twitter to sow division and distribute malicious content before and during the American presidential election, according to a new study.
Scientists at George Washington University, in Washington DC, made the discovery while trying to improve social media communications for public health workers, researchers said. Instead, they found trolls and bots skewing online debate and upending consensus about vaccine safety.
The study discovered several accounts, now known to belong to the same Russian trolls who interfered in the US election, as well as marketing and malware bots, tweeting about vaccines.
Russian trolls played both sides, the researchers said, tweeting pro- and anti-vaccine content in a politically charged context. "These trolls seem to be using vaccination as a wedge issue, promoting discord in American society," Mark Dredze, a team member and professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins, which was also involved in the study, said. "By playing both sides, they erode public trust in vaccination, exposing us all to the risk of infectious diseases. Viruses don't respect national boundaries."
Also at NYT.
Weaponized Health Communication: Twitter Bots and Russian Trolls Amplify the Vaccine Debate (DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2018.304567) (DX)
(Score: 4, Insightful) by janrinok on Saturday August 25 2018, @05:38AM (4 children)
(Score: 3, Insightful) by aristarchus on Saturday August 25 2018, @12:15PM (2 children)
This explains so much. As according to Santayana,those who don't know history [me.me] are condemned to repeat it, but those who only remember Cold War history are doomed to attempting to supress aristarchus submissions.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Saturday August 25 2018, @01:16PM (1 child)
(Score: 3, Funny) by aristarchus on Saturday August 25 2018, @10:15PM
You are scaring me, JR.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by RandomFactor on Saturday August 25 2018, @05:58PM
Hell yes. We had regular drills in elementary school. All lined up against the walls in an inner hallway and ducked down in a ball with our hands over our heads.
I guess it might have kept us from getting shredded by flying glass at least...
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